Cartridge Man Music Maker 3

Here are my subjective views and observations on the Musicmaker 3. 

My MM3 is fitted with the Isolator and has been in use for just over two weeks and has played somewhere between 50 and 60 albums.  I think it may develop further but I feel I have heard enough now to give an impression of how it sounds compared to the other cartridges I have been using recently.

Before listening to the MM3 I played a couple of albums through just to get it warmed up.  The first thing I noticed when I sat down and listened was (what at the time I described as) exaggerated dynamics.  I couldn’t find an appropriate volume level as the quiet bits seemed too quiet and the loud bits too loud.  I also noticed that everything sounded very smooth.  Over the following couple of weeks the dynamics have continued to surprise me but the smoothness has gone replaced by revealing and occasionally unforgiving playback.

The MM3 is the most detailed and textural cartridge I have ever owned by a good margin.  This is mostly a good thing as I hear all sorts of bits that I haven’t heard before.  This isn’t just new instrument sounds; you also get a clearer impression of how the players are working together.  However, there is a price to be paid for all this detail.  The MM3 plays everything on the record, including any damage or wear or muck that the album has picked up along the way.  Similarly it won’t snow plough through crud on the vinyl like some cartridges will: it will actually jump **that bit about jumping is probably wrong - see subsequent post ** .  My previous best cartridge was a Linn Troika and it had a knack of playing up the music and playing down the crap.  The MM3 has no such good manners; it gives you everything that is on the record in minute detail, good or bad.  The MM3 reveals every ‘chuff’ and ‘shsh’ of poor microphone technique, every accidental tap of the mic stand, every bumped drum and fouled string.  Previously sub-sonic off mic thuds cause you to get you up to see who is banging on what outside (twice that has happened to me).  This may sound like I am being negative about the cartridge, I am not: it is remarkable but shows no favour to good or bad, it just plays everything it finds.

The detail and texture it pulls up present images that in the minds-eye are etched with bright or dark lines of contrast around them, so well defined is their place and size.  Sometimes a harsh sound, say a saxophone, will seem to be ripping a hole in the air such is its rasp. 

As I type this I am listening to an original copy of the Specials first album and I swear that if I don’t pay more attention, Terry Hall is going to take this notebook and hit me over the head with it!  That’s obviously just an impression but the level of information does inform you of stuff that you can’t really know.  For instance, on the track Why Worry on Brothers in Arms, something struck me as being different about the vocal to the previous tracks, at first I didn’t twig; then it came to me: I think he’s doing the vocal seated.  That’s not because of where the vocal appears to be but something in the tone and breathing of his delivery.  

I think I have said before that when there is more information/greater intelligibility to me it is as if my brain has more time to listen to things and analyse them, it is almost as if the music is played in slo-mo so one can better study the subtleties.  An example of this effect with the MM3 is that I have noticed that when someone plays descending or ascending ripples of notes (sorry I don’t know the proper musical term) on a piano, there are sometimes what can best be described as notes between the notes (possibly harmonics?).  I have never really noticed them as a separate sound before.

A few notable points

The soundstage is big but instruments are presented as smaller points within the larger space.  I like this but it may not suit everyone as some instruments appear a lot smaller than I remember with other carts.  At first this seems odd, for instance the drums at the beginning of Money for Nothing, have power and bite aplenty but unlike any of my previous cartridges, they actually appear drum sized not 8’ in diameter.  If I had to guess I’d say this may be a function of the Isolator, cleaning things up by preventing vibration bouncing back into the cartridge from the arm. On some acoustic and orchestral recordings there is very noticeable depth behind the speakers much bigger than on other cartridges I have used.

Bass is not to my ear exaggerated in area but has remarkable drive, is very tuneful and goes so deep as to play stuff you just haven’t heard before (again good and bad).

I know I have already mentioned it but it really doesn’t like any muck at all, clean records are a must.  It is worth saying though that it is muck and imperfections that the MM3 falls out with, it doesn’t’ exaggerate the natural background noise of the groove.

This may be a consequence of the cartridge not being fully run in but it has two levels of warm up.  It hits its stride pretty much after a side but after around three albums of playing something else happens and the depth of the soundstage really opens up.

It isn’t a looker - oh no!  Especially with the Isolator, it looks like the Blue Peter cartridge with a biscuit of a mystery brand on top.  Having spoken Mr Gregory though, this is entirely in line with his thinking.  He is totally anti hi-fi bling believing the money should go where it really matters.  This is a noble position and the sound more than makes up for any shortcomings in the looks. 

I mentioned when talking about some other cartridges in the MM V MC section that some cartridges seem to have a mood of their own.  The dynamic nature of the MM3 gives it an air of menace, it loves to kick off.  That’s not to say it is dark just a little threatening and spooky, if it can make you jump with an unexpectedly real hit of a drum or by placing a whispered word too close to you, it will.  It likes a bit of drama.

I don’t know if it is something in the nature of the cartridge or if I am in the male menopause but I keep getting drawn to some Jazz and Fusion stuff I was recently given.  Previously impenetrable it now seems that I may actually be able to ‘get it’.

I always avoid recommending products because everyone has a different ideal that they are working towards.  What I will say though is that for me the MM3 is now in the same category as the Reflex – I absolutely would not want to be without it.  Also like the Reflex, it is excellent in absolute terms but remarkable for the price.

Another interesting read Ivan, thank you.  Glad you like it.

I always find it interesting to hear how different people describe the things that they are hearing.  Can certainly relate to "grab your attention" aspect - something I have noticed at times and rather like and the being startled by sudden percussion strikes if not paying close attention and the occasional ventriloquist trick.

Is a RCM on the shopping list now ?